I’ve been thinking about the importance of teaching the Scripture by framing it in a context that makes the most sense for the audience you’re working with. For example, if I were to teach 1st graders about having Biblical relationships I shouldn’t use the same examples I would use if the room were filled with teenage boys, or married couples…Most first graders aren’t struggling to prioritize their spouse’s needs over their own.

In the Bible, Jesus chose to tell stories about sheep because the people he was speaking to were really familiar with sheep and their ways. In our modern American context, however, sheep are not at the top of the list of most well known animals and Jesus would probably have chosen dogs…

I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I’m reading the Bible I miss some important stuff because I don’t fully understand the context that the Bible is written in. That’s why it’s so important for us to not just tell the stories of the Bible, but to put them in a context that the audience we’re speaking to can understand.

I think most people seem to understand this idea pretty well. Take Marco Tempest for instance. He’s a magician and I saw this video the other day that made me stop and think.

Marco does the same tricks that every other magician does: card tricks, optical illusions, making things appear and disappear…but he does them using cell phone cameras – a technology that we are all familiar with. In that way, his tricks are more interesting than other magicians’ because he’s doing them in a context that we can relate to.

At Elevation we work really hard to not just teach the Bible but to do it in a way that will make a connection that sticks.